It's about time!
DVD buff | Austin, TX USA | 11/15/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Those of us who are die-hard Julie Andrews fans have been waiting for this sort of CD for years. Now we have a near-complete collection of the earliest recordings of Julie Andrews.
The earliest recordings in this collection are five songs recorded by Julie Andrews on 78 rpm records in 1948 amd 1949. The sound quality of the transfers varies a bit, with the best-sounding being the first, the "Plolnaise from Mignon." "Je Veux Vivre" and "Come to the Fair" are also quite good-sounding. "Ah! Vous Dirai - Je Mama" and "The Wren" aren't quite as good in terms of sound quality, which is probably due to their having been transferred from commercial 78 rpm records and not from the original masters.
"Jack and the Beanstalk" is a longer recording made in 1951. It was a pantomime, which is a stage show featuring dialogue and music. Julie sings a solo titled "When We Grow Up" as part of the performance. The sound quality of this track is fairly good, but not fantastic.
Following "Jack and the Beanstalk" are two selections from THE BOYFRIEND, Julie's first Broadway musical. These appear to be just copies of the tracks from THE BOYFRIEND's cast album on CD.
Next are more of the rare unreleased-on-CD tracks from early in Julie's career, taken from the original television soundtrack album for HIGH TOR, in which Julie starred with Bing Crosby. The three songs here represent all of the sung performances by Julie from the album. It's hard to tell if these recordings are transfers from an original LP, or made from the master tapes -- the quality is sort of in-between. It sounds either like a really nice LP or a somewhat-deteriorated master tape.
Next are two songs from the original Broadway cast album for MY FAIR LADY. Nothing new or unusual about these.
The final five tracks are an entire children's record made by Julie in 1957. The LP was called TELL IT AGAIN, and consists of nursery rhymes, children's songs and lullabies. Julie performs with Martyn Green, and they trade off the singing and storytelling. This appears to have been transferred from a master tape, as you can hear some print-through in the recording, which happens to tapes that are stored undisturbed for many years. Even with the print-through, the audio quality is a lot better than my old scratchy LP of this one.
The only reason this collection isn't "complete" is that it leaves out the songs Julie recorded for THE SINGING PRINCESS in 1954. This was an animated film that featured a handful of songs sung by Julie. The film is available on DVD, but the audio quality of the songs is so poor that it probaby didn't warrent inclusion in this collection.
This leaves a smaller collection of Julie Andrews recordings that still haven't seen the light of day on CD -- the studio cast recording of ROSE-MARIE from 1958, a pair of 45 rpm singles from the early '60s ("He Loves Me"/"Dear Friend" and "Tom Pillibi"/"Lazy Afternoon"), three Christmas songs from a Firestone Christmas LP (including "The Christmas Song"), and two LPs (AN EVENING WITH JULIE ANDREWS and LOVE ME TENDER). Hopefully the rest of Julie's recorded work will surface on CD sometime soon.
So for the Julie Andrews fanatic, this CD is a must. Even the casual listener will find this CD enjoyable, if a little odd in its assortment of classical music, children's songs and Broadway showtunes."
What a wonderful treat
xlamp | New YOrk, NY | 11/15/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I've never heard the complete versions of the songs Julie Andrews recorded when she was a child star in England. It's hard to fathom these are done by a 12-year-old--an absolutely beautifully toned voice! The childrens' songs she recorded in her 20s are here too and all done with primarily percussion accompaniment. Really very interesting and fun to listen to. This is a wonderful collection."
From Little Julie to Dame Julie
S. S. Kobierowski | Phoenix, AZ | 02/11/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Clearly this is something for devout Dame Julie fans. I have always been fascinated at the amount of time and effort Dame Julie spent in the early stages of her career. Because of this, she had really had very little formal education, maybe the equivalent of junior high school in the U.S. And yet, she speaks and writes beautifully. Three cheers for whoever was able to preserve these "stages of development". If you are only interested in hearing her music as an adult, this is not for you. If you are a fan of Dame Julie, you will enjoy."
Track Listings (17) - Disc #1